A few years ago, talk of the weather left our columnist cold. Now, she’s all apps and sea temperatures galore
• ‘YOU’RE joking me!’ I shrieked down the phone to my sister the other evening. She had just told me that she had taken five minutes for herself, and had sat outside with a cup of tea but had to come in as it was a bit too hot.
The weather, not the tea that is.
‘But it’s raining here – proper raining, not just drizzle, actual drops!’ I declared, the various micro climates of West Cork, yet again, enthralling me. ‘Maybe the rain is on the way over to you and you’re having that intense pre-shower burst of heat?’ I ventured. ‘Let me check the weather app and I’ll call you back,’ I said hanging up, almost dizzy with excitement. Somehow, I don’t know how, when, or why, I seem to have become someone who gets their kicks from the weather. That includes talking about it at great length, thinking about it a lot, and endlessly speculating about it.
My fascination extends to almost religiously watching the forecast at the end of RTÉ’s main evening news. But the most hilarious thing is that I can sit through an entire presentation without retaining even a single fact. ‘Did you catch that?’ I’ll ask my husband straight away afterwards. ‘What’s tomorrow going to be like?’
I wouldn’t be a great one for the weather apps, and the only one I really trust is Met Éireann’s. I’m reminded of when a pal of mine worked as a news reporter for a TV station. Her granny told her she always tuned into to see her, but then she switched to RTÉ for the ‘real news!’ That’s how I feel about Met Éireann.
Having said that, Met Éireann’s version of events did let me down on a visit we made to the Ewe Gardens in Glengarriff last week. The heavens opened a full hour ahead of what it had forecast. Not that it mattered; in fact it made the forest experience even more magical. We hadn’t been in a few years and I’d forgotten what a gem it is – regardless of the elements.
My other favourite thing is listening to other people talk about the weather – in shops, in queues, everywhere and anywhere. It’s so reassuringly Irish, and it does me the world of good. Or if you get to eavesdrop into one side of a phone conversation one of the first things asked will be ‘how’s it where you are?’, I guarantee it.
It seems we’ve also become just as obsessed with sea temperatures, and if you cock an ear at any random beach on any random day you’ll hear the richest of exchanges between those coming out and those venturing in.
‘How’s it today?’ is a typical ‘ice breaker’, and the reply will be along the lines of: ‘Cool now for this time of the year, but not as cold as last week, it was Baltic altogether then, very unseasonal, not a bit like this time last year etc ...’ And all conversations will be bookended with the classic line: ‘But it’s lovely when you get down, absolutely stunning.’
Once upon a time, I felt a little bit sorry for retail staff or anyone who was dealing with the public and who had to have the same weather conversations over and over but now I’m mainly envious! You’d have to have a good list of adjectives and sayings ready to reel off though to keep things interesting. For example on bad days, along the lines of: it’s miserable, shocking, desperate, a sight to god, wicked altogether, you’d be sick of it, will it ever end. And on good days: it’s a great day for ‘it’, enjoy it while it lasts (it won’t), it would be a great country if we could put a roof on it, etc.
You can only imagine my delight when I read Met Éireann’s list of new storm names for the 2024/2025 storm season, which started on September 1st. Along with met offices in the UK and Netherlands, they each contributed to the list which is: Ashley, Bert, Conall, Darragh, Éowyn, Floris, Gerben, Hugo, Izzy, James, Kayleigh, Lewis, Mavis, Naoise, Otje, Poppy, Rafi, Sayuri, Tilly, Vivienne, Wren. I’m not sure about Mavis, but Vivienne (one of the names contributed by Ireland) sounds like it’s going to be a memorable one. Now that I think of it, I might as well test the batteries in our torches to make sure we’re good and ready for whatever comes our way.
Anyway, last weekend’s sunshine was both predictable and gorgeous but what I’m hoping for now is an actual autumn, followed by a good winter. By ‘good’ I mean proper cold, none of this mild and muggy business we’ve been having for the past few years.
The last few Christmas Days have been practically tropical – very disappointing, especially if you’d your heart set on wearing a Christmas jumper. Definitely not sweater weather.
Liam Gallagher, pictured in concert, will be back together with brother Noel in Croke Park next summer. (Photo: Shutterstock)• So did anyone actually get an Oasis ticket in the end? I quite like the band and have very fond memories of singing along to Wonderwall etc at parties in dodgy flats in Drumcondra during college years in the 90s, but I still hadn’t a notion of logging on to even try to get a ticket last Saturday morning.
I just wouldn’t have the patience for that palaver, and felt a bit sorry for all those who did, with nothing to show for it.
Why does everything have to be so complicated anyway? Far more straightforward, and entertaining, was our trip to Skibbereen last Sunday afternoon to welcome home the Olympic rowers.
It seemed like all of West Cork was there to row in behind them (sorry) and the feelgood factor was through the roof. It was a memorable occasion.
Showers were forecast but thankfully they held off until later in the evening – as Paul O’Donovan himself would say, a pure fluke!
*****
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